[OmegaSupreme]

There was an incident at Smith's on Eastern in Henderson this afternoon. A woman and her male accomplice tried to steal a woman's purse from her cart. Needless to say, they were caught and arrested. Morons.

[RationalExpectations]

Originally Posted by BBMW

Upper management could care less what the store level management wants, especially if it's in regard to a strategic decision. I'm sure the head office people know what shoppers think about self checkouts.

I understand your skepticism, and it is certainly warranted. You may be right. At the same time, as a now-retired former member of upper management (not the grocery business) I can tell you first hand that strategic decisions are informed by real data, including data from actual paying customers. Indeed, paying customers sometimes force your hand on what you thought was a good strategic decision. Sometimes customers set your strategy for you.

Interestingly, I've read the self-checkouts were started decades ago in response to actual customer feedback. Customers loved it in the experiments as it gave them a sense of control. Customers reported less stress. Customers reported a better shopping experience.

Times change, of course, and customer wants & desires & expectations also change. Feedback given at the local store by itself won't move the needle, as you point out, but in aggregate it can and sometimes does change things.

Originally Posted by BBMW

They've done the math on how many customers they're going to lose (and the resulting lost sales) vs how much the headcount reduction is going to save them. And as minimum wages, and other employee costs get driven up, they'll deploy even more automation.

Yes, of course. At the same time, executive management also understands cutting costs doesn't grow the business. It may help with profitability, but executives want to grow the business profitably, not shrink it profitably.

[WorldKlas]

Smiths decision to decline Visa must have been a terrible failure for their bottom line. Only lasted 6 months.

[PinkString]

They did lose money I am sure. Most of us defected and went to Sprouts, Natural Grocers, Albertsons and Walmart. We did just start shopping at Smiths again for some things.

[movin1]

I just used my debit card, not really a big deal IMO. I pay off my credit card every month and didn't really care if I couldn't use it at Smith's. I shop at Sprout's, Albertsons, Walmart, Trader Joe's and WinCo depending on where I am at the time or what I'm looking for.

[BBMW]

Either that, or it put a enough of a dent in Visa's transaction volume that they cut a deal. Likely some combination.

Originally Posted by WorldKlas

Smiths decision to decline Visa must have been a terrible failure for their bottom line. Only lasted 6 months.

[hank702]

Originally Posted by movin1

I just used my debit card, not really a big deal IMO. I pay off my credit card every month and didn't really care if I couldn't use it at Smith's. I shop at Sprout's, Albertsons, Walmart, Trader Joe's and WinCo depending on where I am at the time or what I'm looking for.

Careful, there's a lot less fraud protection when using a debit card. I've had my credit card # skimmed numerous times. $0 liability. A friend of mine got his debit card skimmed, didn't notice it (he was deployed) until after 60 days, he was 100% liable, (almost $10k). Another friend lost his card, noticed it immediately, reported it, it still took almost a month to get his $3,000 back into the bank account that the crook sold at a gas pump in one afternoon.

[boatpi]

NEVER use a debit card other than at a bank.

[orca17]

Originally Posted by PinkString

Plus, we used to get free things every month with coupons they would send in the mail along with coupons for favorite products. They quit doing that too.

Funny, I just got some last month.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by hank702

Careful, there's a lot less fraud protection when using a debit card. I've had my credit card # skimmed numerous times. $0 liability. A friend of mine got his debit card skimmed, didn't notice it (he was deployed) until after 60 days, he was 100% liable, (almost $10k). Another friend lost his card, noticed it immediately, reported it, it still took almost a month to get his $3,000 back into the bank account that the crook sold at a gas pump in one afternoon.

When my mother's card number was used by someone else to buy airline tickets, the bank refunded her. It did take a few weeks, though. If someone can't afford to wait for the refund, they should keep less money in their checking account.